tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post189383305402140645..comments2015-03-31T14:46:02.141-04:00Comments on Mothers in Medicine: On Choosing Pathology and its Compatibility with MotherhoodKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02114277144629595998noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-46958694967561774362013-11-04T22:11:29.731-05:002013-11-04T22:11:29.731-05:00I know this is old but....
As a male (who COMPLET...I know this is old but....<br /><br />As a male (who COMPLETELY respects work-life balance and the importance of parenthood) in a residency program that must put clomiphene in the water, all residents (male and female) should consider this statement:<br /><br />Just because someone has a perceived negative reaction to you taking maternity (for the um&#39;teenth time) leave does not mean they do not respect the principal behind it. Residency is a grind for everyone, whether they have children or not. The periods of excess work, call (not all path programs have light call), and the reality that the work day doesn&#39;t always end right at 5pm can be tough. They wear on everyone emotionally to some degree.<br /><br />So, when a member of the &#39;team&#39; is missing and everyone else gets stuck with extra work, they are not always too happy (our program does not require residents to swap call in the event mat/paternity leave, and so everyone else gets a week or two tagged on, as well as service months i.e. grossing/frozens etc). <br /><br />You should be sensitive and respectful of the fact that your coworkers might not be at exactly the same point as you in their life. Keep in mind that they may have to make sacrifices to &#39;help&#39; you. I can&#39;t even count the number of times I have been stuck at work late handling someone else&#39;s cases with clinicians when they have questions after 5pm b/c little miss susie super mom (per usual) flew out the door without politely asking a coworker if they are &#39;willing&#39; to cover for her. So when 7pm rolls around, and I am just walking out the door, save some of that home cooked meal for me because I had to cancel a date. And yes, I will grit my teeth a little when you and your bird-legged husband decide that residency is the perfect time to procreate because the call I&#39;ll be covering for you will likely result in me missing out on more exciting dates. :PWrongturnMDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11974411070438529623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-30097216178263354432013-03-30T08:44:15.363-04:002013-03-30T08:44:15.363-04:00I share Justine&#39;s sentiments. Pathology seems ...I share Justine&#39;s sentiments. Pathology seems interesting, but it&#39;s future seems quite scary. National labs putting private practices out of business, specialists opening in-office labs, outsourcing digital pathology, and the all too common notion that there a too many grads and no jobs. I don&#39;t want to graduate to find that 12 years of my life have gotten me nothing. Does pathology have a bright future?writeishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09861578173276847988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-60522581268014857892013-01-22T02:03:37.162-05:002013-01-22T02:03:37.162-05:00i know this is quite late but i wanted to ask beca...i know this is quite late but i wanted to ask because i&#39;m very interested in pathology. i&#39;m interested in pathology because i love what the job entails but i&#39;m worried that pathology would decline because it is possible to send microscope slides abroad to other countries and therefore send jobs to other countries. as a pathologist, do you feel that the job prospects are still good?Justine_Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12997818527476491212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-24047817182443630402012-01-19T04:07:17.696-05:002012-01-19T04:07:17.696-05:00Thank you for this post. It was great to read and ...Thank you for this post. It was great to read and answered some of my questions about this very topic. I am a 2nd year newlywed med student; my husband is a 3rd year. We would like to have kids during residency (or so we say now anyway...). Path has been on my radar since before I started med school, but I am torn between several specialties right now. I know/hope 3rd year will help me figure things out, but it is great to hear about life on the other side of training. Thanks for sharing!ptbakeaholichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784897020829031212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-68426148139087100112011-12-20T22:48:36.759-05:002011-12-20T22:48:36.759-05:00Good luck, Maren, in both wonderful endeavors.Good luck, Maren, in both wonderful endeavors.Gizabeth Shyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084807460427610182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-31326686497579769282011-12-20T22:25:01.945-05:002011-12-20T22:25:01.945-05:00Yay pathology! I&#39;m just getting started in bot...Yay pathology! I&#39;m just getting started in both pathology and motherhood (I&#39;m matching and having my first baby all in the same month!), but I&#39;m glad to hear your perspective.Marenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09120123915285554760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-78376632396728389722011-12-16T22:36:14.229-05:002011-12-16T22:36:14.229-05:00Greta - 5 kids, wow! You have my utmost respect. ...Greta - 5 kids, wow! You have my utmost respect. I did get a hard time in residency for doing maternity leave, but mostly from the laziest of male colleagues, no one I really respected, so that was good. I was surprised to get more negative passive aggressive stuff about nursing (i.e. pumping at work). <br /><br />Your job sounds a smidgen more flexible than mine - I am usually covering some OR or rad suite every day - but since it is not too much trouble to get coverage it makes life pretty easy and I make sure to have lots of paid back up to help when kids are sick or out of school. Yikes - I hope your 6 year old&#39;s arm recovers quickly!Gizabeth Shyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084807460427610182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-7111731886995507982011-12-16T15:11:46.907-05:002011-12-16T15:11:46.907-05:00I concur 1000%. I LOVE being a pathologist and I ...I concur 1000%. I LOVE being a pathologist and I love the flexibility. I have 5 kids, one of which came during residency, and NO one in my practice gives me a hard time about my maternity leaves (and there have been a lot of them!). Call is once a week, but usually that just means a late night at the office (until 7:30 or so), with rare interruptions thereafter. Sick children are fairly easily accomodated, as we can almost always (unless on the schedule for frozens) read out slides any time of day, buying enough time to rearrange child care or wait for a spouse to come home from work. If there is an at-school emergency (like when my 6 yo broke his arm on the school playground last week!), I can leave work without leaving patients in the lurch (again, as long as I&#39;m not on frozens, which is again about once a week). Yeah, I have to come back in late at night to finish up my work, or super early the next morning, but the flexibility is there, and that is what I love.Gretanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-48838694842855638242011-12-15T23:05:23.799-05:002011-12-15T23:05:23.799-05:00OMDG - there are some cadillac scopes out there. ...OMDG - there are some cadillac scopes out there. Don&#39;t knock it until you&#39;ve tried them.<br /><br />anon@1:29 - I do get a little patient interaction - fine needle aspirates and apheresis. And as above - scopes are a lot easier to handle when you are the sole driver. I got motion sickness with some attendings pretty bad in training, when I was the passenger.<br /><br />anon@1:30 - glad you liked it - e-mail me anytime through my blog if you have any more specific questions on your journey.<br /><br />That Girl - it is a great lifestyle specialty. I kind of like the lack of PR - pathology, I discovered, is a wonderfully well-kept secret.Gizabeth Shyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084807460427610182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-6446341259774039402011-12-15T14:44:49.945-05:002011-12-15T14:44:49.945-05:00I love pathology and have suggested it as a specia...I love pathology and have suggested it as a specialty option to several of the MS1s I&#39;m in class with as a good lifestyle specialty. Especially for people who say they like to solve puzzles, but so far no real takers. Pathology needs a better PR department ;-)Thatgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13664379534257317554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-27850343755021260362011-12-15T13:30:48.651-05:002011-12-15T13:30:48.651-05:00I&#39;m a second-year med student and my husband a...I&#39;m a second-year med student and my husband and I are expecting our first child soon. I have felt drawn toward path from the beginning of this journey and loved reading this blog post - nice to hear about your experiences in the field! Thanks for posting --Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-70958772506836304062011-12-15T13:29:23.916-05:002011-12-15T13:29:23.916-05:00Thanks for this. I work as a clinical lab scientis...Thanks for this. I work as a clinical lab scientist now and pathology is on my radar when I get to medical school, among other things. I like interacting with people too though and have an interest in global health so I wondered if it would be a good fit that way. I&#39;ve found there are options, but fewer than things like ID. I guess I&#39;ll find out when I get to the point where I can do rotations, but I appreciate your perspective. It seems like a lot of people don&#39;t have a good understanding of what happens in path, or the clinical labs in general.<br /><br />@Old MD Girl..... I didn&#39;t like staring at slides through scopes at first either and I got terribly motion sick, kinda grew on me though. I&#39;m highly visual so that might have something to do with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2919631102243889689.post-91788052436053561432011-12-15T13:09:20.662-05:002011-12-15T13:09:20.662-05:00If only I liked microscopes!
*sigh*If only I liked microscopes! <br /><br />*sigh*Old MD Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17937425894428802591noreply@blogger.com